In recent years, the number of vehicles on the road has dramatically increased. Today, record management such as vehicle registrations is provided by administrative agencies that are sometimes poorly equipped to handle the ever-increasing workload. For example, the employees of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) are burdened with the responsibilities of renewing registrations, conducting vehicle inspections, issuing driver's licenses for hundreds of vehicles and drivers each day, and collecting fees for each of these services. That this approach is inefficient is evident by the long lines of customers at local DMV offices. Furthermore, contracting some of these administrative tasks out to local independent service centers has not been entirely successful.
In addition to the many other services provided by local DMV offices, they are also responsible for the issuance of license plates that are secured to a vehicle and display data that signifies that the vehicle is properly registered with an appropriate government agency. Historically, license plates are of a simple metallic structure that is stamped to display alphanumeric information. They suffer, however, several disadvantages. For example, registration renewals are costly, and since the renewal status is reflected on the license plate, the license plate is a target for thieves. Additionally, traditional license plates often times clash with the esthetics of modern car styling and colors. Since they are generally attached to the rear and/or front bumpers of the vehicle, constraints are placed on the automotive designers who must incorporate fascias into the bumper designs to receive the license plates.
In view of the foregoing, it should be appreciated that it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for automatically providing registration and license plate information to a vehicle. Additional desirable features will become apparent to one skilled in the art from the foregoing background of the invention and the following detailed description of a preferred exemplary embodiment and the appended claims.